Adoption of AT [2015] NSWSC 1666

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Adoption of AT [2015] NSWSC 1666 Hearing dates: 7-9 April, 20-22 July 2015 Date of orders: 22 July 2015 Decision date: 22 July 2015 Jurisdiction: Equity - Adoptions List Before: Brereton J Decision: Adoption order made; consent dispense order made. Catchwords: FAMILY LAW AND CHILD WELFARE – child welfare under State legislation – adoption – whether the making of an adoption order is clearly preferable to any other order that could be made with respect to the care of the child – where child settled in placement with proposed adoptive parents and has developed familial and psychological ties with adoptive parents and siblings – whether adoptive mother's depressive illness undermines her parenting capacity – where adoptive parents have experienced difficulty in supporting contact with birth parents – where adoptive parents committed to supporting birth parent contact – where adoptive parents not ideally placed to meet child's cultural needs – where adoptive mother's cultural heritage sufficiently similar to child's to mitigate deficit in child's cultural and identity needs – parenting capacity of birth parents – where realistic prospect of restoration of child to care of birth parents remote – where preserving the possibility of restoration would contravene the spirit of adoption principle (e1) – held, that the making of an adoption order is clearly preferable to any other order that could be made with respect to the care of the child. Legislation Cited: (NSW) Adoption Act 2000, s 8(1), s 8(2), s 23(2), s 24(1), s 28(1), s 28(3), s 28(4), s 67(1), s 90, s 90(3), s 91 (NSW) Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1988, s 44, s 90 Cases Cited: Adoption of NG [2014] NSWSC 680 Adoption of RCC & RZA [2015] NSWSC 813 Adoption of SRB, CJB & RDB [2014] NSWSC 138 Director-General, Department of Community Services v D [2007] NSWSC 762; (2007) 37 Fam LR 595 Re D; Application of A [2006] NSWSC 1056 Texts Cited: Robert Epstein, 'What Makes a Good Parent?' (2010) 21 Scientific American Mind 46 Category: Principal judgment Parties: Secretary, NSW Department of Family and Community Services by its delegate, The Principal Officer Adoption, Barnardos (plaintiff) T (natural mother) C (natural father) Representation: Counsel: S Christie (plaintiff) S Gardiner (natural mother) G Winn (natural father)